Once Lost
by JRCBROOLZ
Summary: Everyone always sees Zelda as uncorruptible, an angel in dark times. But what if she was corrupted? One-Shot fic, based on art by RoseLight1993 on Deviantart
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok, this is my first fic based on a picture, I got the idea off a really good bit of art by RoseLight1993 on DeviantArt, a link to which I'll put in my profile, and this is a one-shot, I'm not going to be continuing this, I just thought it could make a good fic. And to Katherine herself, sorry if this is posted a little late, as I may have just got ACIII, meaning my free time at the moment tends to involve that.**

Link slashed at Ghirahim, as they both fell downwards, jerking his sword arm as he hit the ground and rolled, coming up quickly to see Ghirahim clutching his side, his white eyes blazing with hate.

'You,' he paused, and straightened up, 'I know your weakness.' With which he snapped his fingers, and Link looked up, as he heard a scream from above.

Zelda was leaning over the highest balcony, in her white dress, and she screamed as diamonds of varying sizes and colours surrounded her, she reached out a hand to him before she disappeared.

Link turned back to his opponent, to see him holding his thin, black sword at her throat, smiling with a desperate intensity of madness. Zelda looked straight at him, scared.

He would not let this happen.

He grasped the Master Sword's leather grip tightly, knowing he had only one chance.

'You have lost, boy. My Lord WILL rise, how could you think your pitiful efforts could stop this?'

Link ignored him, and pulled his arm back a bit, ready for his chance, feeling the power of the Triforce flowing through him. Ghirahim seemed to notice the movement, tilting his head for a better look, a word forming on his lips before Link took the advantage of his confusion.

He flung his body forwards, pushing his arm up, forcing the sword out of his hand, letting it fly straight at Ghirahim's head, hitting the white crystal on his forehead with such intensity that it plunged straight on through to the other side, and out.

Ghirahim stumbled backwards, his body growing limp as he released his hold on Zelda, allowing her to fall forwards, on to her knees. He gave out a shrieking, inhuman scream from what was left of his mouth as white and black diamonds of magic circled around the wound.

Link allowed himself a sense of triumph, as the diamonds consumed his entire body, until all that was left was the magic floating in the air, the sparkling, twisting shapes, that suddenly stopped meandering, and almost with an echo of the scream, flew straight at…

'ZELDA!' he yelled, crossing the two metre gap between them as the swirling diamonds absorbed themselves into her body. As he reached her, he kneeled and put an arm around her now trembling form, as she clutched her head in her hands, still on her knees.

'Zelda?' he said again, the worry evident in his voice, she continued shaking.

He pressed a hand gently to her cheek, and her head snapped up, her eyes glowing, burning an iridescent blue, searing into his eyes.

Link woke with a start, his heart beating furiously as his back scraped the boulder he was slumped against. The same dream, every night, a re-visit of the events of seven days ago, seeing her eyes, her face, and waking immediately.

Oh, he'd run so fast, so hard, he ran flat out for three hours, straight through the forest, to the plains beyond, before the golden light faded from his limbs, and he slumped against a lonesome tree at the top of a hillock, and turned to look behind him at what was left of Faron woods, the smoke reaching high into the sky as the whole forest burnt, he suddenly hadn't wanted to rest anymore.

Over the next few days he'd travelled, walking so far, he'd passed Eldin Volcano two days ago, but had avoided the region, thinking to get away from anywhere _she_ might find him. The image of her blazing eyes was permanently burned behind his eyelids, always there, just waiting for him to close his eyes.

So he'd run, he, the Hero, had run away, from… from the woman he loved, from everything he knew.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind as he pulled himself off the ground, his clothes were torn, and battered, and he felt naked without his sword, which still lay where he had attacked Ghirahim, Fi trapped inside.

He massaged his right wrist, as he prepared to get going, he almost missed the flash of white in the corner of his vision, almost.

He paused, then turned to look her in the face.

She stood there, definitely Zelda, but so different. Her skin was the colour of porcelain, matching her skin-tight white clothes, which didn't leave much to the imagination, showing a large proportion of her chest, and with diamonds cut into the form-fitting leggings, a golden sash, inset with a ruby circling her waist. Her arms were bare, showing the black skin that showed just up to above her elbows, with a weird, almost cracked effect where the white skin met the black. Her hair still showed blonde at the tips, but growing to a pale white at the roots, still braided in her traditional fashion. And then he came to her face, her features were the same, but changed, her lips were a silver, chrome-like shade, shining in the sunlight as she smirked slightly, and her fierce, blue eyes glinted with twin sparks, the air of one who knows they're mad, and enjoys every minute of it, surrounded by a dark purple shading around her eyelashes. She wore earrings made of two striking, blue diamonds, hanging from her pointed ears.

Her left eyebrow was raised as she gazed upon him, her smirk growing a little.

He readied what fighter's stance he could muster as he gazed upon the woman he once loved, and fought for.

'Oh, little Link,' she said, her voice soft, and alluring, pulling him in, 'fought through the skies, and the lands below them, countless monsters, and foes aside, all for one woman,' she walked slowly forward as she broke his heart with her next words, 'Who never looked at you twice,' she whispered, reaching out to him, to caress his face with her cold, black, sculptured hand, gazing straight into his eyes, as she reached her head forward 'and the only one standing in my way,' she said, oh so quietly, as she moved to kiss him with those silvered lips.

Link couldn't help but return it, it was her, Zelda, the fierce heat spreading from her lips throughout his body didn't matter, he was really with her, his heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his chest as she leaned backwards, smiling, as the heat spread through his body.

He reached his hand in front of his face, to see the magical diamonds dancing around his hand, red, and white, and yellow, in a hypnotising pattern.

His last thought as he faded from existence, was simply her face, smiling down at him, as he died.

And with the death of the Hero, so the reign of the Dark One came to pass.

**A/N: And that's your lot, let me know what you think, please review, and please check out Roselight1993's art on Deviant Art, she's awesome. I will continue 'The Last Hero' when I get a chance, but I've come to a stall with the storyline, little bit of writer's block, but remember, reviews make me write faster.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:Ok, this is now a two-shot, I had another idea for this, and Katherine has managed to persuade me It's worth putting to publish. This has basically nothing to do with the first chapter, it is an alternate idea I came up with, based on the same two pics, and a little darker, enjoy…**

Her rough, calloused hands grasped the basket's handles firmly as she pulled it up onto her shoulder, bearing the weight of the milk bottles, all needing to be delivered to the Castle workers.

She walked slowly out of the barn where the cows were kept, closing the great doors behind her. She turned around to see the dark, rock Castle leering out of the sky at her, still not complete, with men working on it these past forty years, the six outer towers spiralling at various heights, the builders of each one competing with the others, knowing the punishments if anyone was found to be slacking, fearing the attention of the Legion.

As she set off, in the direction of the main town courtyard, she passed three of the Legion Guards; many called them Darknuts, with their shining black armour, and varying weapons between different members. You could never see any emotion, or anything irrational from them, just swift, and immediate deliverance of punishment, apart from that, they never so much as moved. Every five years, young, fit men were taken to join the Legion, none ever returned, and nothing ever changed, not even the guards on each street corner, standing in the same place for days on end without moving, just waiting for a rule to be broken in their presence. Rumours of dark magic surrounded all talk of them, the talk that wasn't silenced anyway.

The streets were nigh empty in the late afternoon light, except for the usual beggars on street corners, those who could not work, or couldn't afford anything, were just left to die in the gutter, begging passers-by for food. Every one of them eyed her basket as she walked past, knowing what it contained, the simple milk and bread diet of the Castle workers.

The work went on every day of the week, Gorons doing most of the heavy work, chained to each other in gangs, ready to be returned to their own 'safe' accommodation, a small area of houses on the East side of Town, each house sparse, and contained like a prison cell. The men who worked there did the rest of the work, everything from blacksmiths, to carpenters working there, to provide the piece they were there to do, like wrought iron doors, or great oaken floors. Once, before she was born, a third race was working there, the Mogma's, there to dig the early foundations of the Castle. Once the foundations were finished, every Mogma had been lined up in the Town centre, and executed. Some said it was because they were disobedient, others simply because they'd finished the job they were there to do. Which, if true, begged the question of what would happen to the town after the Castle was finished, and of its inhabitants?

She pushed such thoughts from her mind, the men would be waiting for her, and the other women, to show up, and she risked punishment if she was late, not severe, but she had no wish to lose any part of her anatomy.

She hurried onto the street leading to the Town centre, keeping a wary eye on the beggars who stared at her, though these days not just on the food, at seventeen she realized how she looked to men, and realized she'd be forced to take a husband soon, and increase the population, there was always a need for new workers.

She noticed movement in the corner of her eye, as one of the skinnier ones left the side of the road, standing up, while still staring at her.

She turned her head to look straight forwards, and quickened her pace, hoping not to catch the hem of her long dress. She brushed a lock of red hair out of her eye, using the opportunity to steal a look at the Darknut at the street corner, the helmet was slowly turning in her direction, she forced her legs to move faster, while trying not to make it look like she was hurrying, keeping her head down. Desperately hoping that the man wasn't that stupid, or perhaps just that desperate.

She felt that he was behind her before he laid hands on her, pushing her waist away with his hand, letting her fall sideways, as he tried to grab the basket from her shoulder, he made the mistake of underestimating its weight, letting it spill from the hand he'd grabbed it with, making it fall to the ground, spilling some of its contents over the road, bread and milk bottles spilling out, with a few ominous cracks as white liquid steadily began to leak from the wicker basket.

'Curse it!' the man growled under his breath, ignoring her body lying on the ground where he'd pushed her to the cold cobblestone road, concentrating on grabbing some of the bread that had fallen.

She instead focused her gaze on what he'd evidently missed; the Darknut was slowly walking over to them, carrying an oversized battle-axe, and as she twisted her head in the other direction, to see another Darknut, hefting a flail, walking towards them as well. Fear welled up in her stomach

'Oh no,' she almost whimpered. All the beggars in the gutters seemed extremely occupied looking at other things, as were the few others walking past, none wishing to see what happened next.

The man turned at her voice, clutching still warm loaves, to see the two enforcers bearing down on them, his face turned truly ashen, as he scrabbled away backwards, backing up against a wall. His breathing quick, dropping the bread in his panic.

'Please,' he pleaded, as the Darknuts kept walking, 'I just need food, I…I..' he spluttered out the words, and the Darknuts pace, never faltered, until they were standing right in front of him.

'Please. Have Mercy,' he begged, wringing his hands in front of them, moving to a kneeling position. The reply was quick, as the axe cut straight through his neck, thudding into the brickwork of the house behind the body, as it slumped to the ground, blood flowing freely onto the street, the head rolled for a metre, then stopped.

The Darknuts slowly turned, and returned to their posts, as she sat on the street quivering in shock.

She forced herself to stand, and collect all the items before someone took any of them, she collected all but the two broken bottles, which she left for the beggars. She kept her eye off the body as the beggars surrounded it, knowing as everyone did what would happen next, though none spoke of it. Any bodies left on the street disappeared quickly, and at much the same time most of the beggars of the area. Some of those who did not wish to face the truth when brought up said that they buried the bodies, others confirmed that indeed they did, but only the skeleton, what was left after…

She hurried on, into the main courtyard. It was a massive circular area, which marked the site of several businesses, and the entry point of the main street leading to her destination, the Castle. In the centre of the massive circle was a large rectangular area, that still had some knee height walls to show the shape, with a pedestal in the middle, where something different must have once stood compared to what was there now, the centrepiece of the area. People said the place had once been a Temple, in the middle of a massive wood, It certainly wasn't anymore.

Her mother had told her the stories of life before here, when she was a little girl, on the winter evenings around the fireplace.

She spoke of their people living high in the sky, beyond the clouds, soaring everyday on great birds of red, and blue, and yellow, and every colour of the rainbow. But a great evil came into the land, the people responded with legend of a Hero, who would defeat that evil, and restore the land. She still remembered asking her mother what had happened? Why was the land still like this? Why weren't they still in the sky?

'The Hero fought many battles across the surface of the world, through the forests, mountains, and deserts; he made his way to a chance to lay down the great evil once and for all.' Her mother had sounded so sad, but she had climbed onto her lap and asked, confusedly 'So what happened?'

'He failed, he wasted his chance, and this world came into being, under our great ruler.'

'So what happened to him?' Her mother had hesitated in answering.

'You know the town centre, in the courtyard?' she had nodded enthusiastically, 'well, that's him. He lives to this day, unable to die, forever paying for his failure, and as an example to the rest of us.'

It seemed like so long ago. Her mother had died later that winter, her heart gave out in the cold, but the story stayed with her like it was yesterday.

She inclined her head to look at the great, spherical, iron cage, with all its cogs, and gears, that moved constantly to change the positions of the various spikes and implements sticking in the body of the man suspended there, limbs splayed out, with dark blood, and gore covering his body. A magical shield protected the cage from crows and the like. His clothes were merely green rags, which barely covered what was left of his dignity. He was blond, with scruffy hair, clean shaven, his eyes closed, and his head sitting on his chest, not even moving when a new spike was slowly embedded in him, or removed. He was the symbolisation of what happened if you defied the way things were.

'What did you do when you had the chance?' she murmured under her breath, still looking up at the man's limp body.

'What do _you_ think he did?' came a feminine voice from behind her; she briefly registered a brown cloaked person with a hood in the corner of her vision.

'Does it matter? He had a chance, he failed.' She responded, without thinking, still staring up at him. The person chuckled slightly before replying.

'What would you have done in his place?' the woman questioned.

'I…' she paused before replying, who would ask questions like that, to even talk of rebellion was treason, none dared, and she'd just said things that could be construed against her to a total stranger. Her blood chilled, and she turned to face the woman. The hood obscured her face, but she could still see the porcelain skin, the iridescent blue eyes, that sparkled so brightly, the dark purple shadowing around her eyes, and the chrome lips that were smiling so nicely. Her smirk grew an extra bit as she studied her face, before the woman threw back her hood with those black hands, allowing the cloak to fall to the ground at her feet; gasps came from all around as she was revealed to all there. Those with the most sense were already backing down side streets as her skin-tight clothes, and well known features were recognised. The Dark One. Master of all. The great ruler of Hyrule. Zelda.

Her smile blew into a full grin, showing her perfect white teeth, each sharp enough to cut through a person's fingers, as tales said they had done before. Zelda held out a hand to her, small diamonds shimmering in the air around her fingertips, of many colours, and suddenly her shocked body was moving, her legs bending down, the basket dropped, its contents rolling out everywhere, forgotten, as her legs settled to a point where she knelt before Zelda, fear still gripping her features, her red hair blowing in the sudden wind that surrounded them.

'What is your name?' Zelda questioned in a voice that almost dripped with underlying thoughts, almost saying 'obey, or you will die.' She failed to notice the movement in the corner of her eye as Zelda spoke.

'M-Malon,' she mumbled out, 'my Lady,' she added hastily, noting the twitch of Zelda's lips at the words.

'Well, Malon. I do believe you've committed Treason,' Zelda's smile grew broader, she brought her hand up again, more and more tiny diamonds floating in and out of space, swirling faster, and faster. Malon was too stunned to speak, terrified out of her wits. 'Do you know the punishment for this offence?'

Malon's body stiffened as she considered what was going to happen next, she wondered if it would be quick. Knowing Zelda's reputation it wouldn't be.

'Zelda…' a quiet voice sounded to Malon's left, she turned slightly to see him, staring straight into Zelda's eyes. He had deep, green eyes, the colour of leaves, and though his body was young, his eyes seemed to be darker pools, betraying age, and experience, of many things seen by those weary eyes.

Zelda seemed to have almost lost attention of Malon, her black hand dropping slightly, the diamonds fading a little, as she concentrated on the man in the cage. Rightly by all accounts, she'd never heard of the man ever speaking.

'Lea…,' his voice was hoarse, and croaky, unused, 'l-leave her alone,' at those words he turned to look at her, those old eyes looking into her youthful ones, his eyes conveyed a message, a message of sorrow, of apology. He knew he'd failed all those years ago, that he'd caused all of this to some extent, that it was his fault. And he was eternally sorry for it. One of the things her mother had said came back to her, 'Unable to die…' that was what she had said. He was stuck there. In this cage. Forever.

'You haven't spoken for nigh on forty-five years, haven't responded to anything…' Zelda sounded surprised to say the least, then it seemed like the maniacal light in her eyes increased, as did her smile, 'all for one girl you've never met.' The man seemed to notice the minor difference about her, turning his head to face Zelda once more.

'N-no…you w-won't…' he forced out. Zelda smiled as the man grimaced, and Malon was shocked to see golden light, flickering around his wrist, diffusing into the air. But it was weak, and he was obviously straining to bring it up, never letting his gaze leave Zelda, before his face unclenched, his head hung, and the light sputtered out.

'You fail. You failed then, and you fail now. You are weak.' She spoke, clearly to every person who was left gawping on, which was few, as if none mattered but the two of them. She leaned forward slightly, and whispered, 'While I am strong,' her smile seeming like it would burst off her face, as she turned to Malon again, raising her hand once more, diamonds swirling in the afternoon air.

'No,' croaked the man, forcing his head to turn once more to the two of them.

'This is your fault, always remember that Link. You caused this. You failed.'

The man, Link, turned to Malon's gaze once more, that sorrow, and regret obvious in those tired eyes. He closed his eyes and turned away as the pain began.

It seared its way through every part of Malon's body, through to her core, she shrieked to the sky in shear agony, as she fell to her side, writhing on the ground, as she faintly heard the light, feminine laughter echoing through the courtyard with her screams.

Every part of her body blazed with pain, she wanted to give in, for it all to stop. To die.

But she didn't, she burnt. Her body a blazing funeral pyre of flames only felt and seen by her.

Her mind was broken beyond repair in seconds, her thoughts descending into a vortex of madness, a world of pain, and pain only, before finally, after her screams had reached far and wide through the streets, the screaming stopped, as her heart gave out releasing the mad spirit within.

Just the laughter remained.

**A/N: That took ages, roughly 2 ¾ thousand words. There you are Kathy, version deux. Definitely darker I'd say, and more thought out. I think this is a better version. Hope you enjoy people, and don't forget to review, and to check out RoseLight1993's art, really worth looking at.**


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